Inspiring Others:
This past month I was very pleased an honored to return home
to my native island, Grand Isle, Vermont to be able to speak to two middle
schools. On Wednesday January 18th I drove up to the top of the
string of islands in VT to a little town called Alburgh. When I arrived at the
school I was surprised to see that on their sign out in front of the
building they had written, Alburgh is proud to welcome author Laura E.
Thompson. Talk about humbling, it was amazing to realize that I was their
honored guest. I wish I had taken a picture of it, unfortunately I forgot to. However, if I receive photos from the school, I will be sure to post them. That afternoon
I met with the 8th graders and then the 7th graders for
two forty minute sessions. We sat in the library and I told them about myself
and the book. Then I opened it up to questions and they asked things like, “What
keeps you motivated?” And “How long did it take you to write the book?” They
seemed pleased when I told them that a lot of my inspiration came from growing
up in a small town and that my goal for visiting them was to instill the fact
that it does not matter how small your town was or where you came from, if you
believe in yourself and keep working towards your dream you can achieve it.
The students seemed to enjoy the talk and I was pleased to offer a signed book to one lucky winner from each class.
The students seemed to enjoy the talk and I was pleased to offer a signed book to one lucky winner from each class.
On Friday January 20th I returned to my old
Elementary school Grand Isle. Grand Isle had planned the talk a little
differently. Instead of separating the classes, they invited me to stand onstage
in the auditorium and speak to over 100 people. I spoke to the fifth, sixth,
seventh, and eighth grade students, as well as their teachers for an hour. I am not ashamed to admit that
when I found out there would be that many students, I suddenly became very
nervous. The night before the speech I tossed and turned until after midnight.
It is a strange thing to go back and see a place that you spent your whole
childhood in order to tell other kids growing up there what you have done with your
life. You can’t help wondering what they will think. I thought what if they do
not like my speech? What if they are bored or do not ask any questions and
there is a huge, awkward silence? Nothing could have been further from what
happened. The children were absolutely wonderful and extremely engaged in my
speech. They eagerly raised their hands and asked both prepared questions
and new questions that they made up on the spot. I even received some
suggestions about other things that I could write about. I couldn’t believe how positive and impressed they seemed to be. For a shy,
awkward girl who grew up afraid to speak up in class, this was a shining moment
of achievement for me. I was so proud to do it and so happy that they enjoyed
it.
After the speech, I was interviewed by a lovely eighth grade
student named Nevaeh Prim. We sat for about ten minutes as she asked me
questions in order to write an article for their school newspaper. I have
included her article below, enjoy. Until next time dear readers, remember to
keep being yourself and believing in your dreams and they will come true, in
time. Writing=happiness ;)
On
Friday, January 20, at Grand Isle School, Ms. Laura E. Thompson, former Grand
Isle student, gave us a presentation and book talk about her newly published
book “The Burden of
Destiny: Elven Quest Book 1”
During her
hour long visit she explained to us her road to writing her book and her
challenges and difficulties of writing her very first young adult fantasy
novel. As a child she liked to read and write but never really knew she wanted
to be a published author until she was a little older. She had many
inspirations writing the novel including JK Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien.
She stated
that it took her “over 10 years” to write and publish the book. Once she
published the book she said “It was like a dream come true.”
Although she
had a fun time writing the book, she encountered many challenges along the way,
including being rejected about 15 times by publishers before she was able to
actually publish it. Sometimes writing the novel even Ms. Thompson had her doubts
and threw the beginnings of the book aside. But that never stopped her, with
the courage and help from her family and friends she was able to complete her
very first novel.
Her final
message to me during our interview was “...but if you truly believe in
something, stick with it. If you really believe in yourself great things will
happen.”
I thought that
it was really neat of Ms.Thompson to come and visit our school and share to us
her thoughts and tell us her journey making the book. As a young writer myself
I believe that she gave me some good tips and inspiration on perseverance and
never giving up on on writing. I learned that writing isn’t going to be easy
and that new writers may encounter many many challenges and that we shouldn’t
give up. I can’t wait for when someday I may be able to publish my own book and
that her visiting gave me a little confidence booster on writing.
Interview and
Writing: Nevaeh Prim
Photos: Nevaeh Prim and Kate
Lucas
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